Canada: Anita Anand reverses decision, will run in 2025 federal elections

Toronto: Indo-Canadian Cabinet Minister Anita Anand is expected to announce she will contest the 2025 Federal elections, just over 45 days after she said she was opting out of the race.

That reversal of the prior decision will be formally announced at an event in Ontario on Friday, according to the Government-funded outlet CBC News.

Currently, the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Anand is expected to be the nominee of the ruling Liberal Party from the newly-created riding) of Oakville East, a person familiar with the development told the Hindustan Times.

She was first elected to the House of Commons in 2019 from the riding of Oakville and retained it in 2021. After the redistribution of ridings in 2022, it was divided into Oakville East and Oakville West.

She was asked to reconsider her decision not to contest by former central banker Mark Carney, who is the leading contender to head the Liberal Party. The race to select the next leader of the party is scheduled to be completed on March 9 and Carney is favoured to emerge as the successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who on January 6announced his intent to resign once the process was over.

In fact, her announcement is expected to come at an event on Friday where she will appear with Carney.

Anand, the first Hindu to become a Cabinet Minister in Canada, was considered a potential candidate for leadership but made it clear on January 11 she was not seeking to succeed Trudeau.

In a statement issued on that day, she said, “Today I am announcing that I will not be entering the race to become the next Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and will not be seeking re-election as the Member of Parliament for Oakville. I will continue to honourably execute my roles as a public office holder until the next election.”

Anand was a law professor at the University of Toronto before she was recruited to run in the 2019 Federal election.

Anand, also the first women of Hindu heritage to be elected a member of the House of Commons, was appointed Minister of Public Services and Procurement in November 2019, and that turned out to be crucial portfolio months later with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement for purchasing vaccine supplies for the country. In 2021, she was made Minister of National Defence, and later became President of the Treasury Board. Last year, she was given the additional responsibility of the Transport department. On December 20, she was made Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.